Rotary Club of Grande Prairie donates $20,000 to 2018 Alberta Summer Games

A $20,000 cheque was recently presented to the 2018 Alberta Summer Games.

It came from the Rotary Club of Grande Prairie who will be taking on the athletics sponsorship.

“The Rotary money is a huge help to the games…all of the track and athletic events are going to be supported by the money that Rotary has given us,” explained Lindsey McNeil, Games Manager.

Approximately 2,700 athletes will take part in the Games next summer.

“In total, there will be about 3,000 people coming between the athletes and coaches and officials,” said McNeil. “We’re really, really hopeful we will see a big impact especially in tourism. And one of the big things that our games committee is trying to do is to promote to those families who come to watch the games, that this is a great region to come to if you want to do a stay-cation.” She’s hopeful they’ll want to come back other seasons to enjoy the region as well.

“Grande Prairie is a really amazing community to host an event like this in. Everybody has been super supportive and it really has been a breeze so far; everybody we have talked to has wanted to be part of the games and help in any way they can,” she said.

McNeil says they have had a lot of sponsors come forward and express interest lately. Right now, they are getting venues in place and then they’ll begin tryouts.

She also says to make the games happen, they need about 2,000 volunteers.